Whose Songs Are Better -- Paul McCartney’s or John Lennon’s? The Fab Faux Confirms “John vs Paul” for October 18th at The Beacon Theatre in NYC – A Contest of Musical Fisticuffs and a Song Battle for the Ages!

The second age-old question after "Who's better...Beatles or Stones?" has always been "Whose songs are better...John Lennon's or Paul McCartney's?" On October 18th at The Beacon Theatre in NYC, the audience will get to judge for themselves, as The Fab Faux puts on a contest of musical fisticuffs and presents the ‘Song Battle Of The Ages’ – “John Vs. Paul!” Needless to say, this will be an extraordinary night of music.

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The Wall Street Journal recently articulated what sets The Fab Faux apart: “The Fab Faux…are not interested in nostalgia – they are a musical ensemble, and, unlike any other Beatles recreation that I have seen, they play the Beatles canon like it was, well, music. They don’t dress up in Beatles outfits or don fake mustaches and Sgt. Pepper suits – no more than Leonard Bernstein felt compelled to wear a powdered wig when he conducted Mozart.” Read the full story, here: http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2013/10/26/the-fab-faux-go-beyond-beatlemania/

For those of us who never got to see The Beatles in concert, we're fortunate to have The Fab Faux dedicate themselves to faithfully recreating some of the most extraordinary music ever written. The band commemorated the 43rd Anniversary of The Beatles' performance on The Ed Sullivan Show with an appearance Late Show with David Letterman. Check out their fantastic recreation of ‘I Am The Walrus’ here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lknCpGbsJc

The Fab Faux brings together the talents of five of New York's most respected musicians: Will Lee of Late Show with David Letterman, who released a solo album last year which Rolling Stone Magazine praised as “hitting an intersection of the Average White Band and solo Paul McCartney,” Jimmy Vivino, band leader of the ‘Conan’ Show, Rich Pagano, who has performed with Rosanne Cash, Ray Davies and released a solo effort Blurt Magazine described as “one of the best albums of 2009,” Jack Petruzzelli, who has toured and recorded with Joan Osborne, Patti Smith and Rufus Wainwright (and co-wrote and co-produced Osborne's latest album, "Love and Hate," which came out in April,) and Frank Agnello, whose musical credits include Phoebe Snow, Marshall Crenshaw and Joey Molland of Badfinger.

Best-selling Rock Critic and Sirius Radio Host Dave Marsh, said:
"The Fab Faux have the hardest job in the history of R & R and they pull it off damn well. All rock bands want to be like the Beatles; these guys have the nerve to BE the Beatles. Amazingly, they're so good at it you learn new things about the originals."

ROLLING STONE MAGAZINE named the band as #18 on a list of the “40 reasons to get excited about music.” Rolling Stone also praised: “sometimes a tribute band sounds better than the original.” In a live concert review, THE WASHINGTON POST’s John Kelly blogged that the band had tackled “the task of reverse engineering the Beatles' late catalogue, obsessively learning every guitar figure, every drum fill, every lush harmony, every tap of the cowbell and shake of the tambourine, until the songs could be played in concert.” THE HUFFINGTON POST raved: “They do the one thing, no amount of officially sanctioned Beatles merchandise can do... bring The Beatles music back to life.”

The Fab Faux have also confirmed a series of U.S. tour dates for 2014:

SATURDAY, AUGUST 23, 2014 - 8 p.m. LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND
THE ROYAL COURT THEATRE - 99 MONMOUTH STREET The Fab Faux Return To Liverpool for International Beatleweek! Click here for package travel info.
Fab Faux have headlined 4 years in a row at Liverpool’s Annual Beatle Week, playing before 35,000 Beatle fanatics (and will be heading back in 2014 for a triumphant return).

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2014 - 8 p.m. NORTH RIDGE, CA VALLEY PERFORMING ARTS CENTER - CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY The Fab Faux performing 'Abbey Road' in its entirety, plus a mixed bag of favorites. With the Hogshead Horns and the Crème Tangerine Strings. Tickets now on sale!

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2014 - 8 p.m. NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ THE STATE THEATRE - 15 LIVINGSTON AVENUE 'The White Album' in its entirety! With the Crème Tangerine Strings and the Hogshead Horns. Tickets on sale now!

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2014 - 8 p.m. WILMINGTON, DE THE GRAND OPERA HOUSE - 818 N MARKET STREET 38th Annual Grand Gala to benefit Arts Education at The Grand A glorious hodgepodge with the Crème Tangerine Strings and the Hogshead Horns. Tickets available by phone (302.658.7897 ext. 3250) and/or order form. The form may be emailed to awbish@grandopera.org , faxed or mailed. Click here for the ticket form.

Rolling Stone, Huffington Post, New Yorker ‘On the Horizon’, WFUV, The NY POST Fall Arts Preview, Time Out NY, RELIX Magazine, USA TODAY, Metro NY and other key outlets weighed in on The Fab Faux, as Radio City Music Hall became the setting for an epic three-hour concert --‘A Night In The Life - A John Lennon 70th Birthday Celebration.’ The 2010 event featured two sets of John Lennon’s greatest music from The Beatles and his solo career. A portion of the evening's proceeds benefited 'Spirit Foundation' - a charitable foundation set up by John Lennon and Yoko Ono. Prior to the show, the band was honored to receive a personal note and bouquet of flowers from Yoko Ono. Sampling of coverage:

ROLLING STONE - Concert Review
Alternate Take Blog, by David Fricke, 9/27/10
Every Twist of Lennon: The Fab Faux Meet the Quarrymen at New York Tribute Show

Fab Faux bring Beatles tunes to New Brunswick
East Brunswick native Jack Petruzzelli plays keyboards & guitar
http://newstranscript.gmnews.com/news/2009/0930/front_page/011.html
The Fab Faux’s Jack Petruzzelli appeared live on FOX-TV in Washington, D.C. to discuss the band’s approach to recreating the albums of The Beatles, note-for-note.

The John Lennon 70th Birthday concert, mentioned above, marked The Fab Faux’s return to Radio City Music Hall, following their sold-out 10th Anniversary event, during which they delivered a 36-song marathon performance that began with 'Magical Mystery Tour' and ended three hours later with 'Hey Jude' -- with the audience of more than 6,000 people on its feet. Their 10th Anniversary 'Psychedelia!' concert was The Fab Faux's largest headlining concert ever, their largest-ever sold out concert, and their largest NY concert-to-date as well.

The Fab Faux are now in a league of their own, consistently performing music that The Beatles themselves never played live. Beginning with a pair of concerts at Webster Hall in late ‘07, the band has reached a new level of fan support as well as media awareness, with growing coverage including ABC-TV World News Tonight with Charles Gibson, NPR, Rolling Stone, Associated Press, Reuters Newswire, NY-1 News, The New York Times, NY Post, New Yorker, NY Sun, Hollywood Reporter, Time Out NY, The Nation and much more. An NPR Morning Edition segment
(http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18342562 ) praised the group as a "Collective that's about attention to detail." A Front Page feature in The Hollywood Reporter noted: “After nearly 10 years together, (they) find themselves in the midst of a surprising leap from club fringe to center stage...” Critics have weighed in, and have described the band as nothing less than "Brilliant" (AP). A live concert review in THE NATION.com described their show as “Almost magical.” Read Will Lee’s interview with GLIDE MAGAZINE here:
http://www.glidemagazine.com/hiddentrack/interview-will-lee-of-the-fab-faux/

ABOUT THE FAB FAUX:
With a commitment to the accurate reproduction of The Beatles' repertoire, The Fab Faux treat the seminal music with unwavering respect, and are known for their painstaking recreations of the songs (with emphasis on the later works never performed live by the Beatles). Far beyond a cover band, they play the music of The Beatles so impeccably that one must experience it to believe it. Imagine hearing complex material like "Strawberry Fields Forever" or "I Am the Walrus" performed in complete part-perfect renditions; or such harmony-driven songs as "Because", "Nowhere Man", and "Paperback Writer", reproduced not only note-for-note, but with extra vocalists to achieve a double-tracked effect.

The musical virtuosity of The Fab Faux – in actuality five of the hardest working musicians in NYC – completely up-ends the concept of a Beatles tribute band. Far beyond being extended sets of cover versions, their astounding shows are an inspired re-discovery of the Beatles’ musical magic, as The Fab Faux tackles the group’s most demanding material live onstage in a way that has to be experienced to be believed.

Calling them, “the greatest Beatles cover band – without the wigs,” Rolling Stone senior editor David Fricke wrote, “the Faux invigorate the artistry of even the Beatles’ most intricate studio masterpieces with top chops and Beatlemaniac glee.” Approaching the songs with the intent of playing them live as accurately in musical reading and in spirit as possible, The Faux’s breathtaking performances tend to dispel all concertgoers’ previous notions of a Beatles tribute act.

The Fab Faux are a labor of love that was born in 1998 when neighbors Jimmy Vivino,
bandleader/guitarist for Conan O’Brien's new show, 'Conan,' and Will Lee (who’s played with all 4 Beatles), bassist for Paul Shaffer’s CBS Orchestra on the Late Show With
David Letterman kicked around the idea during an elevator ride in their NYC building. Rounding out the line-up are lead-singing drummer/producer Rich Pagano (Rosanne Cash, Patti Smith, sugarCane cups, etc.), guitarist Frank Agnello (Marshall Crenshaw, Phoebe Snow, etc.) and ace keyboardist/guitarist Jack Petruzzelli (Joan Osborne Band, Rufus Wainwright). All five principals contribute vocals, making the Faux’s soaring harmonies as resonant as their multi-instrumental chops, which are further enhanced by the four-piece Hogshead Horns (with Blues Brothers, Blood, Sweat & Tears and SNL band alums) and Creme Tangerine Strings.

The Faux’s high energy shows have generated serious buzz not only at top NYC venues including The Beacon Theater, Hammerstein Ballroom, and Webster Hall – with Beatles fans, movie stars and world class musicians in attendance – but at major dates in Los Angeles, Atlanta, Las Vegas, Park City, Utah (Sundance), Philadelphia and Toronto, among other locales. They’ve headlined 4 of the last 5 years at Liverpool’s annual Beatle Week, playing before 35,000 Beatle fanatics – while in England, they had the rare honor of recording an original song at Abbey Road Studios – and also delighted the masses performing live on the Howard Stern Show. Benefit and corporate dates have included events for JVC, the N.B.A. and the Michael J. Fox Parkinsons Research Foundation.

“It's not just a cover band,” says the Faux’s Pagano. “This is the greatest Pop music ever written, and we're such freaks for it.” Imagine the instrumental complexities of “Strawberry Fields Forever” and “A Day in the Life” performed part-perfect with an orchestra. The lush, multi-layered harmonies of “Because,” and “Eleanor Rigby” sung note-for-note. The adrenaline rush of “Helter Skelter” and “Paperback Writer,” delivered spot on…